


Towards Tomorrow

by Shiinou



Category: Harvest Moon, Story of Seasons, 牧場物語つながる新天地 | Story of Seasons
Genre: Gen, Ibuki/Johnny and Minori/Annie are twins here, Still not experienced in writing, The Winter 1st thing, but please bear with me, i still cry, spoiler - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-01-04
Updated: 2018-01-04
Packaged: 2019-02-28 11:01:46
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,226
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13270071
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Shiinou/pseuds/Shiinou
Summary: Winter 1st. A oneshot of the day Eda (bless her kind soul) passed away.





	Towards Tomorrow

**Author's Note:**

> If you’re at the point of reading this, thanks a lot your interest!

* * *

It was a huge shock to Fritz when he found out that Eda had passed away. The red headed farmer had seen the sweet old lady as part of his family, and he cried hard at her funeral, comforted by Minori's and Ibuki's arms around his shoulders and waist, though they too were crying. Eda was loved by everyone, and they would definitely miss the grandmother of the town. Once the funeral was over, one by one, the villagers drifted off to return to their homes; they had businesses to run after all, even if they were mourning the passing of a loved one. Soon it was only three left: Fritz, Minori and Ibuki. They soon had no more tears left, but they stood in front of her grave in silent vigil.

When Minori opened her eyes, the winter sun was almost high above their heads, indicating that it would soon reach midday. Fritz and Ibuki seemed to be falling asleep standing. She patted their shoulders, gently waking them up.

"Let's get you guys to bed." Minori said softly.

She steered them both to the house, and lay Ibuki down onto his bed. She didn't think Fritz was well nor aware enough to get down the mountain, even with her help, so she lay him down on her own bed. She tucked them both in with a sigh. It was time to do some chores around the farm. She stopped at the front door and looked back at the two now deeply sleeping forms, and smiled softly.

"Sleep well."

* * *

 

Ibuki blinked, wondering where he was. He sat up, and found that he was in his own bed. On his sister's bed, he found Fritz sleeping soundly, and smiled. He looked like such a child, it was adorable. Ibuki yawned and stretched, and went out to look for Minori. Once outside, he saw that all the crops were watered, and the animals looked fed, cleaned and content. However, there was no sign of Minori anywhere. He headed over to Eda's farmland, and he felt a pang in his chest. The elderly lady really was gone. He blinked back the tears that were threatening to drip from his eyes, and continued looking for his sister.

Going down the mountain path, he checked all of the fields, but still didn't find her, though everything had been watered too. Perhaps she was in town? He went to the town to ask around.

* * *

 

Fritz woke up soon after Ibuki had descended the mountain path. He sat up abruptly, saw that he was in Minori's bed and, blushing slightly, he scrambled out and looked around. The twins weren't around, so he assumed they were going about their farm chores. Heading outside reminded him that Eda's funeral was only that morning; he wanted to cry again, but told himself that he had to stay strong. He had to get back to tending to his own farm. He couldn't just leave it, even if he was sad. Nevertheless, he shed a few tears as he made his way.

Fritz was surprised at what he saw when he returned to his farm. It seemed like his crops had been watered, and there was a basket of harvested vegetables at the front of his door. He looked around to see if there was anyone around, but it was empty, save for his cows and chickens; and speaking of.... One of his cows was nowhere to be seen.

"Kinako" Fritz called for his cow. "Kinakoooo!"

He heard an answering moo inside the barn, and he was relieved. Kinako had been the first cow that Eda had gifted to him, and he didn't want to lose her so soon after Eda.

"Kina, there you are!" Fritz said as soon as he was inside. "Why are you-- oh."

Kinako was standing by a figure on the barn floor, leaning against the wall. Fritz approached cautiously, and breathed a sigh of relief when he realised it was just Minori. But what was she doing in his barn?

"Minori? Minori!"

Fritz knelt down beside her and tried to shake her gently awake. She stirred a little, but didn't wake. He was about to shake her a little harder but realised that she was murmuring something in her sleep.

"Don't worry.... Fritz... I'll take care... for you...." she mumbled.

He was confused for a moment, but came to a realisation. Now he knew who had taken care of his fields.

"Oh Minori." Fritz said fondly. "You're too kind to a pathetic farmer like me."

From outside, he heard Ibuki calling him.

"Fritz! Fritz! Are you here?! I can't find Minori anywhere!"

"She's--" Kinako moo'ed warningly at her farmer. "Oh, right. Thanks Kina."

Careful not to disturb the sleeping farmer, Fritz went outside and waved at Ibuki.

"Your sister's in here." Fritz said, indicating the barn. "She's gone and fallen asleep."

"Oh boy, really?" Ibuki rubbed his head. "Well, guess I can't blame her. She was working while us boys were sleeping." He smiled softly. "I should carry her home."

"Yeah... actually." Fritz remembered the crops Minori had harvested for him. "Actually, I have an idea..."

* * *

 

Minori was woken by the smell of something delicious wafting through the air.

"That smells good." She said sleepily.

"Oh! Hey sis, you're awake." Ibuki face appeared into her vision, and she jerked backwards with a yelp, hitting her head on the wall.

"H-Huh? Where am I?" She said, rubbing the back of her head.

"You're at Fritz's place, don't you remember?"

"Fritz..?" Minori frowned. "Oh right, I was taking care of his cows, and I suddenly felt really tired. Guess I fell asleep huh?"

"You did." Ibuki nodded. He hugged his twin suddenly. "Thanks a lot for taking care of the farm today, Nori."

Minori chuckled and patted his back.

"No problem. You guys looked like you needed some rest."

"Yeah, but I still feel bad; you needed rest too." He grabbed her hand and tugged. "C'mon, let's go to the kitchen."

"Huh? Why? We shouldn't overstay out welcome. And he doesn’t even have a kitchen!”

"Don't be silly, sis. Fritz said we could stay for dinner. And don’t worry, I got him something convenient." He dragged her to the ‘kitchen’ and she saw Fritz cooking happily.

"Heya Minori." Fritz beamed at her. "You're finally awake! Sit, sit~ I'll be done soon. Ibuki was able to get me some old portable cooking equipment.”

"O-Oh, okay. Hey Fritz...? How are you feeling?" Minori asked. She knew he was very close to Eda and had known her for much longer than she or Ibuki had. Fritz stopped for a moment, before continuing to stir the soup he was cooking.

"I-- I'm sad that she's no longer with us, but..." he looked back over his shoulder and smiled. "I can't keep sulking around! I still plan to do my best with my farm. You're already doing better than I ever will, so I need to step my game up."

Minori gave a wide smile in answer, glad that he was quite positive, and gave him a slap on the back.

"'Atta boy Fritz!"

"Now let's eat!" Fritz laid everything out on the table, and they sat around it.

"Here's to tomorrow!"

They smiled at each other, and dug into the delicious meal. Surely tomorrow would be a better day!


End file.
